Just 10 Minutes
by Aliemah
Summary: Prompt: Thane sees that Shepard is stressed and is pushing herself too hard so he decides to do something nice for his Siha. One-shot Thane X Shepard fluff. Originally posted on tumblr.


_Author's Note: Requested by elvenmaleficar on tumblr. Oh my god, I was so nervous about writing this at first that I was afraid of messing it up. I actually went through and changed the whole thing about five times before I settled on this plot. This is my first time writing this pair. Hope I didn't mess this up for you, and that you enjoy it!_

 **Prompt: Thane sees that Shepard is stressed and is pushing herself too hard so he decides to do something nice for his Siha.**

* * *

The moment the door to Life Support opened, he knew there was something off. She walked with a heavier step, her feet moving just a little faster - but not so much that anyone who hadn't grown used to her walk would be able to notice. Sometimes Thane felt he paid too much attention to her for her liking, but he only wanted to take care of her. Someone had to with all the chaos that surrounded her. Shepard deserved to be happy and relax a little.

"Thane, do you have a few minutes to talk?" she asked when she came into view. Her hand was combing back her black hair, and she let out the softest sigh she could manage. He turned to face her, noting that she didn't sit down right away, waiting for him to motion to the chair across from where he usually sat while he meditated, or thought about anything of importance. Lately he'd only been thinking of her.

"I always have time for you. Tell me what's on your mind, Siha." he said calmly, waiting for her to begin and ready for anything.

"Seems like you're the only one who has time, these days. Everyone else keeps… pushing me off, or telling me they have something _really_ important to work on." Her blue eyes were darting around him, but she had yet to look at him. "It's like they forgot that I didn't exactly have to go around and help them around with all their stupid issues-" suddenly she stopped and looked right at Thane, "I-I'm sorry… You had a legitimate issue, and so did everyone else, I'm sure-"

"Shepard, you don't need to worry about upsetting me." Thane interrupted, smiling, "It seems to me that you are under enough pressure as it is - if you need to let it out, then I won't stop you from telling me what's on your mind. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me."

She was silent for a minute, her eyes slightly wider than usual, jaw hanging so that her lips were parted just enough to see the darkness inside her mouth. She was surprised at what he'd said, apparently. Then, she shook her head with closed eyes, lips curling into a soft smile when she looked back at him.

"Thank you, Thane." her voice was soft, and her eyes slowly trailed down to her hands as she leaned forward and rested her arms on the table, hands folded. "I'm just getting tired of feeling like I have to do everything on my own, because I know that's not the case." There was a long pause as she thought about what to say next, shrugging her shoulders and slumping forward some. "And the fact that I'm having to save my entire species is hard enough as it, but… I feel like I can't trust most of these people beyond knowing they won't shoot me in the back until this mission is over with. It's… hard to try to make friends, and reconnect with old ones. I'm so used to relying on myself that these things just seem that much harder for me. I'm burning myself out just trying to socialize like a normal person, again."

"It doesn't have to be that way anymore." Thane reached over, taking her hands. She shook her head with a smile, though her eyes betrayed that she was frowning inside. She looked beyond tired - exhausted and in need of proper rest.

"I know. But thank you, I just needed someone to talk to and let this all out. I know it's not good to bottle stuff up." She gave his hands a gentle squeeze and then stood up. "I'll still see you for dinner?" she said, still not parting their hands.

"Of course." he nodded, letting her hands gently slip out of his as she walked out of the room. Her steps were a little more even, and light. A difference from earlier, at least. But Thane knew this was only temporary, so he had too find some way to get a more permanent fix to this issue. He folded his hands in front of him, and leaned forward some to think in the silence.

* * *

Natalie walked from the CIC to the elevator, looking forward to taking a break at dinner. She was beginning to feel fatigued, and a little under the weather. Throwing herself into her work with little regard for her health probably wasn't the smartest thing she'd done. Though in her own defense, there were thousands of colonists going missing every day, and she was determined to save as many as she could - ideally every single one. Even that was a seemingly impossible goal. Socializing had been off the table after her talk with Thane - he hadn't needed to know all that about her. Still, it had felt good, knowing there was at least one person besides the doctor that she could open up to.

She sighed and gently pushed the button to head to the Crew Deck. Shepard tried to relax, and avoid thinking of work before dinner, but she found herself wondering if Garrus' precious calibrations were actually doing any good besides making him unavailable to talk to. Then she wondered if Garrus would be there, too. They hadn't done much talking since she'd helped him with his issue about Sidonis. That mission hadn't gone the way he'd wanted, but she was sure it had been for the best, even if he'd been cold to her about it. Maybe they could talk after dinner. Or tomorrow, during her rounds.

The elevator door opened and she stepped out, glad to see that Thane was just coming out of Life Support. She paused while he approached her, glad that he was becoming comfortable enough to take her hand. She turned to walk towards the mess, but she felt him gently tug on her arm. Shepard glanced back with confusion.

"I think you could use a little more time to relax, Siha."

"I don't really have that luxury, Thane. I'm sorry." she went to move again, but the tug was there again. Hard enough to pull her into him this time. She stumbled a bit and caught herself against his chest, sighing heavily as his arm wrapped around her. There was no way she would be able to get away from him, now. "Fine," she huffed as she looked up at him, "what did you have in mind?"

"I thought we could have dinner alone, tonight, if that's alright with you." he reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear. She heard Tali cooing from the other side of the massive room, and whipped her head around to see that not only was Tali witnessing this, but practically the entire crew. She felt her cheeks grow hot, and she turned back to Thane, smiling.

"I'd like that a lot, actually…"

"Good. Why don't you head up to your quarters, and I'll bring you something to eat." his arms fell from around her and she felt a tiny ache in her chest from the sudden loss of contact. But she nodded, and tried not to blush any more when he placed a kiss on her cheek. He was certainly being forward, tonight. And she didn't mind it at all.

Getting back into the elevator, she felt a little nervous. What exactly was Thane planning? Or thinking? What were they going to do? Would they eat, and he would leave, or would he insist on staying? Oh god, was her cabin even clean? Did she remember to feed her fish? Okay, nervous was not accurate enough, she decided. Natalie was in a full-blown panic. She was through the elevator doors before they'd even fully opened, and she was rushing into her room to ensure that, yes, it was cleaned, her fish were fed, Thane would have some place to sit, wherever that might be, and plenty of other tiny things. She sighed and sat down on the couch in the corner, closing her eyes for a moment to rest.

She heard the door open, and she was suddenly feeling very calm. Shepard knew it was Thane by the silence that followed the door closing. It used to bother her, but she'd come to appreciate it. Then, he appeared at the top of the stairs, smiling at her from around the corner.

"I was worried you had changed your mind."

"No, just resting a bit." she sat up and returned the smile. "Why don't you come sit over here?"

"As you wish." he nodded, disappearing behind the glass case for her model ships, and reappearing with a tray of food for the both of them.

Over the past few weeks of getting to know Thane better, she'd noticed he tended to stick more to fruits for his nutrition, compared to most everyone else. It looked as if tonight were no different - but there was a heavenly scent filling the room as she looked at the plate closest to her. She looked over to Thane with a grin.

"I really hope I'm not the only one who was getting this for dinner." she chuckled, eyeing the grilled chicken that was cut into strips, and laid carefully over a generous serving of pasta. It had been some time since she'd had a meal like this.

"I may have pulled a few strings with Gardner to get this for you. But he assured me there would be plenty for the rest of the crew as well." he said, motioning for her to begin eating. She sighed, shoulders slumping once again as a smile grew larger across her face. Turning, she leaned over to give Thane the gentlest of kisses.

"Thank you." she whispered, before eagerly, and carefully, grabbing the plate, along with a fork and knife to eat. She couldn't help the groan that escaped her mouth as she began to chew on the pasta and chicken - the sauce was perfect, both the noodles and the chicken were perfectly tender, it was hot but not enough to burn her mouth… God, it was perfect.

And then she heard a throaty chuckle from Thane as he began eating from his bowl of fruit. Gently bumping his shoulder with hers, she was glad he returned the gesture, both eating in relative silence for a bit. It was relaxing, even though it wasn't unlike any other night. Maybe it was the fact that they were alone, and he'd done just enough to distract her, but she found that she was beginning to eat slower, so that she might prolong the time until he felt he had to leave.

He'd finished eating long before her - as usual, and so when his arm stretched along the back of the couch, she found herself leaning against him, still silent but appreciating the weight of his arm around her 's plate was nearly empty, spare for a few pieces of chicken, and pasta. She spared a glance up at Thane.

"Do you want a couple of bites?" her voice came out soft, and it didn't sound like her. He hummed, looked at the food, and smiled.

"I'll have a bite." he said, letting her scoop up what she considered to be a bite, and guiding the fork to his mouth, grinning when it closed around the fork and the fork pulled away clean. It almost felt too intimate to watch him chew the food, but she couldn't help it. His expression changed a bit - intrigued if she were to guess.

"Seems I missed out on a good meal." he said after a moment.

"I'll make sure Gardner makes this dish more often, trust me." Natalie chuckled, leaning forward to set the empty plate on the coffee table, settling back against Thane with a soft sigh. She even turned into him a little more, glancing over at the edge of her fish tank and letting her mind go blank as she watched what fish she could see.

She didn't notice when she curled up completely next to him until there was a firm hand in the middle of her back pulling her closer - into his lap. Lifting her head, Shepard looked at Thane, glad to see he was smiling when she finally settled where he'd effectively nudged her.

"Thane?"

"Yes?"

"You didn't have to spend time with me, you know that, right?"

"Of course. But would it be so bad to admit that I wanted to spend time with you?"

"… No, I guess not." she said quietly, blushing once more and looking down at his shoulders, and chest. His hand lifted from his side, and brought her chin up so she was looking at him once again.

"Why are you hiding?"

"Thane, I'm not hid-"

"Yes, you are." he smiled, stretching his hand out so that his palm was resting against her cheek. It felt cool against the burn of her cheeks. "And you don't need to hide around me."

"Not even if someone is shooting at me?" she smirked. He let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

"That's a different scenario, and you know better than that."

"Didn't hurt to ask." Natalie shrugged, reaching up to take his hand away from her face as she felt the blush fading.

Her slender fingers slipped between his easily, and fit comfortably in his grasp. All the while, she couldn't help but gaze into his eyes - the same eyes which she had first looked into, and had felt a strange emptiness behind them. Now, however, she could see them coming back to life - happy and satisfied with the life they'd had. She was the reason for that.

"Siha, what are you thinking, right now?" it was a soft, innocent question. Pure curiosity on his end, and that was more endearing than she would have thought it to be.

"Just about how much happier, and more content you seem than when I first met you." she admitted.

"I have many reasons to feel those things. And very few of those reasons seem to have been without your influence in some way."

"That's a good thing?"

"Of course it is." he smiled, drawing her closer. "You have awakened me, again, Natalie. Just in time for me to make peace with my life before it is taken from me." there was a long pause as they both searched the others' eyes. "That is something I may never be able to repay you for, except to promise that I will never leave your side unless you want me to."

"Never." she whispered, shaking her head. Her arms reached over to tighten around him, letting her cheek press firmly against his shoulder as her eyes shut. "I don't think I could hold myself together long enough to be of any use, if I didn't have you here with me. I know I have someone to rely on, and that's all I need."

There was no straightforward confession of love - she didn't know if that was what she was feeling at the moment. But there was the admission that it would be hard to go forward without her support. It was nice to know that with everything that had happened, she was having just as much of a positive influence on someone as that someone did on her. Thane deserved a second chance, all things considered, and when they pulled away from their embrace, there was a small, fleeting thought that maybe there was something that could pull them together in a bond much stronger than anything she'd ever had before. It could be different - forever.

* * *

Thane picked up the tray of empty dishes as quietly as he could manage, balancing it as he left the darkened cabin. With one last look, he smiled with a soft sigh as he saw Shepard comfortably asleep in her bed. He thought he could see a faint smile on her lips as he left, but he was sure it was just his imagination.

Still, in just a matter of ten minutes, he'd managed to get her to relax, and take her mind of anything relating to their mission. The rest of the evening, in all honesty, had not been planned. Overall, it had been a success in more ways than one. The firm pressure he was feeling in his chest was reassuring, and comforting. It was a feeling that he was no stranger to - no, this was a feeling Thane had never thought he would ever feel again in his life.

 _"I love you, Siha."_ he had whispered into her hair, before leaving.

His next step would be actually saying those words while she was conscious, and looking at him. But, that would be another time, and until then, he would not even worry about it. As she had told him before - he was happy and content with the way things were, now. He could not ask for anything more than he had been given.

Just an hour later, Thane was lying down in his cot, closing his own eyes with a faint smile as well, thinking of Natalie, and the pleasant evening they'd shared together.


End file.
